Battlefield 4 gets long-awaited Squad Join feature on console

The long-awaited Squad Join feature has been added to the console versions of first-person shooter Battlefield 4.

Squad Join allows up to five players to form a squad before joining a game. Create a squad and your friends can immediately join you. Once the squad has been formed the squad leader can launch into the game. The squad stays active as long as there are players in it, guaranteeing friends stay together over rounds.

The beta version of Squad Join is available now. "This is something we know our fans have been asking for - and something we wish we could have provided at launch - so we are now happy to present the first iteration of Squad Join," DICE said in a note on Battlelog.

Squad Join will be improved over time, the developer added, with the next iteration coming alongside the Dragon's Teeth expansion this summer.

Initially, Squad Join Beta will be available in the Battlefield 4 base game maps in the Conquest, Team Deathmatch, Obliteration, Rush, and Domination game modes, but all the other Battlefield 4 maps and more game modes will be supported in later iterations of Squad Join.

"In this multi-release process, we are working on features like managing party members, and making Squad Join available for all game modes," DICE dded.

Squad Join will not come to the PC version, DICE confirmed. It said PC players can easily join friends on the battlefield by using Battlelog.